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Excerpt: ...boy addressed the King. "May it please your Majesty," he said; "we should very much prefer to have you give each of us one of those nuts instead of a quart of gold." The King looked grave. "This is a much greater reward," he said, "than I had ever expected to pay; but, since you ask it, you must have it. You have done something which none of my subjects has ever been able to accomplish, and it is right, therefore, that you should be fully satisfied." So he gave them each a nut, with which they departed in triumph to the ship. By the afternoon of the next day, the Captain had sold all his cargo at very good prices; and when the money was safely stored away in the "Horn o' Plenty," he made ready to sail, for he declared he had really no time to spare. "I must now make all possible haste," he said to old Baragat, "to find Apple Island, put these boys ashore, and then speed away to the city where lives my son. We must not fail to get there in time to spend last Christmas over again." On the second day, after the "Horn o' Plenty" had left the Island of the Fragile Palm, one of the sailors who happened to be aloft noticed a low, black, and exceedingly unpleasant-looking vessel rapidly approaching. This soon proved to be the ship of a band of corsairs, who, having heard of the large amount of money on the "Horn o' Plenty," had determined to pursue her and capture the rich prize. All sails were set upon the "Horn o' Plenty," but it soon became plain that she could never outsail the corsair vessel. "What our ship can do better than any thing else," said Baragat to the Captain, "is to stop short. Stop her short, and let the other one go by." This manoeuvre was executed, but, although the corsair passed rapidly by, not being able to stop so suddenly, it soon turned around and came back, its decks swarming with savage men armed to the teeth. "They are going to board us," cried Baragat. "They are getting out their grappling-irons, and they will fasten the two...
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